Bill Michie

An Interview with Steve Brennan – Why We Work Safely

Seattle is booming – everywhere you look, construction is happening. Cranes fill the skyline, the waterfront is being reinforced, and one of the largest tunnel boring machines is slowly digging beneath the city. According to the Associated General Contractors of America, the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett metropolitan area employs approximately 89,000 professionals in the construction industry.

I was sitting on the train to work the other morning when we pulled into the International District Station. I was intrigued as I watched the train fill with men and women donning reflective safety gear, hard hats, coolers, and tools. Seeing this mass commute, I wondered what projects they were working on and hoped for their safe return home that night.

Design Approach
Initially, I wanted to create an audio story that reminded employees why they need to work safely. I thought I could accomplish this by recording voices of family members or employees simply stating their reasons. As I watched the construction workers on the train I questioned my approach – why would that guy care what another person’s family thought?

The next day as I watched this process again, I thought about company’s culture and values and how they reflect safety. At my company, like most, culture is defined by the words and actions of leadership. Then it dawned on me – my audio story project would be a great platform to feature the thoughts and opinions about safety through an interview.

Design Execution
The readings on audio story telling were very helpful. I’m a huge fan of This American Life and Ira Glass’ explanation of building blocks inspired the format of my story. Using both anecdotes and moments of reflection would help make this relatively mundane topic interesting. I started my story design by thinking how I could make the topic of safety interesting and created an outline.

With outline set I started gathering my sources. I interviewed our Safety Director, Steve Brennan. This is actually one of the first formal interviews I’ve conducted, so when he accepted my invitation, I knew I needed to be prepared. Before the interview, I prepared about 15 questions. Some were basics and some more in-depth. I wrote my questions so they would evoke long answers which I could then use as snippets in post-production.

Interviewing Steve was insightful and inspiring. It’s was fascinating to hear from him directly his thoughts on safety and how we can build a culture which supports it. I used my iPhone to conduct the interview which yielded a little more than thirty-minutes of source materials.

I also used my iPhone to record my own introduction. The last source I needed was some sound effects. I spent some time exploring construction sound effects from Freesound.org and settled on a nice subtle construction sound from the user Sortan.

Technical Execution
After I gathered all my audio sources I got to work in Adobe Audition. My use of this software has been very limited, but I’m impressed with how simple it has been to use it. Below are the steps I took to create this audio file.

Step 1: I created a new multitrack session with the sample rates set to 44100 hrz, bit depth of 16, and master set to stereo.

Step 2: I dragged all my source audio files to program so I could begin.

Step 3: Knowing this project needed to be 3 minutes most, I started by placing my background sounds to serve as the constraint I needed to fit my story into. I put it on the time line and realized it wasn’t long enough, so I placed it again and edited it so there wouldn’t be a gap in sounds and cut it to 3 minutes.

Step 4: After the background sounds were placed I manipulated it to create an intro and outro. I manipulated the volume to decrease after 10 seconds and increase with 5 seconds left.

Step 5: I created a timeline dedicated to my voice by renaming it Bill Voice. This track is dedicated to my speaking parts. After placing the introduction, I removed some pauses and “umms” which made it sound more professional.

Step 6: This was the most laborious part – editing Steve’s interview from thirty-minutes to 2. To achieve this, I listened to the file many times and used the razor tool to snip parts I could use. This was challenging, as I did not want to change his answers or implied meaning.

Step 7: After editing the entire piece down to 3 minutes, I exported the project to MP3 file and uploaded it to sound cloud.

Feedback Request
I hope you like my audio story draft, it was really fun to make. I have a few questions which would help me as I enter the revision process.

Is the intro too long?
Are the sound effects distracting?
Should I add a conclusion?

Thanks for listening. Have a fun and SAFE 4th of July weekend!
Audio Sources:
Construction 1.wav sourced from Freesound.org user, Sortan, licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License. http://www.freesound.org/people/sortan/sounds/220931/
https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Bill Michie

July 1, 2016

COM561

10 responses to “An Interview with Steve Brennan – Why We Work Safely”

robertgreenweb

July 4, 2016 at 5:58 pm

Hi Bill
Content-
Nice background introduction, you shared information about employees and businesses in the construction industry and it left me wondering about how many injuries occur each year and cost to employees and business of those injuries. It is an important subject that people don’t think about The sound and the pace were good and the thoughts were in complete sentences with almost no, um’s, uh’s or weird pauses. It did seem like the interview ended without a clear wrap up to the benefits of improved safety to businesses and employees.

Technical Issues-
Looking at audio quality issues it sounded like the interview was “far away in another room” compared to the narration you supplied so those 2 items did quite match up to my ear. I also thought that there was some background noise in the interview portion of the audio. Sounded like you were in the job shack on a construction site. Overall I think it was a good start and will be really good will a couple tweaks.

Cheers Rob

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1. Bill Michie
  
  July 6, 2016 at 5:32 am
  
  Thanks, Robert. I definitely need to work on the interview sound quality. Any suggestions from how you boosted the audio in your project? Was it as simple as increasing the volume bar? You have a keen ear, I used the construction sounds to make it sound like we were on-site. Perhaps I’ll need to turn those down a bit.
  
  Thanks for your feedback!
  
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  1. robertgreenweb
    
    July 8, 2016 at 12:06 am
    
    Hi Bill
    I went to a very quiet room to ensure no background- it took many trys with 3 computers and a video recorder and 3 different mics and trying different combos until it worked- a nightmare on a simple issue- still don’t know why- I did use volume control on Audition to even the sound- but but me and ms chandler speak loud and got a lot of practice until found a working mic combo
    hope that helps
    cheers rob
    
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thepatientcafe

July 5, 2016 at 12:05 am

Hi Bill,

Great job on your audio story! Your introduction was interesting and engaging. After listening to this I really wanted to hear the rest of the story. I also thought your voice was clear and the background sounds were appropriate and made the story more “real”. You also had a good conversational style during the interview and got your questions answered.

When the audio started, I felt that the sounds from the construction site were a bit too long. This didn’t work as well for me in the intro because I have negative associations with construction sites – that they are noisy and disruptive and can create inconvenience. I’ve been living through the resurfacing of the main road here in Los Angeles, so this is somewhat fresh :).

I think the introductory piece could connect more with the general audience by starting with a short reminder of our relationship with the construction business. You had a great phrase that “these people arrive to build schools, churches…”. I think this could be expanded a little, maybe with phrases like “where we live and work” that show why this issue is connected to us and is important to us. It is implied but may make the story more compelling to be stated more explicitly.

You also provided the number of workers in the beginning, which I thought was great. After that sentence, though, I was anticipating some statistics on the number of reported injuries at construction sites to get a sense of the scope and seriousness of the problem. I was also wondering about the national statistics, whether this is a big issue, or maybe a problem in the local area, depending on the problem and the staff, and if I don’t live in that area, what is my reason to tune in? Because I didn’t get stats, and also national info that may include where I live, I couldn’t understand the probability of someone not getting home to dinner. There was a disconnection in the story with the alarm points, especially when the interviewee mentioned only relatively minor injuries. The interviewee brought up a good point that I think could make your story more compelling. He asked “why wouldn’t you be safe?”. With the regulations, awareness, and precautions from the employer before the job begins, why is this still happening? Is there something the public can do?

Best of luck of your final work!

Nola

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1. Bill Michie
  
  July 6, 2016 at 5:38 am
  
  I appreciate the comprehensive feedback, Nola. You’re association to construction sites is spot on. They are noisy, disruptive, and inconvenient! But just think how great that road will be when it’s done!
  
  Since I’m attempting to use this at work I do want the focus to remain on Seattle, but I think your idea for connecting emotionally with the audience would work well. Also, I should absolutely share statistics about injuries to highlight the seriousness of the subject. Great ideas!
  
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jobskillsforyoungprofessionals

July 5, 2016 at 3:19 pm

Hi Bill, great interview. I like the opening and immediate use of construction sounds. I also thought the tone/inflection of your voice was helpful. I like the use of the question: “what if we could guarantee safety….” It adds an element of inspiration and hope, which helps draw-in the listener. I think the background sounds and the volume of the voice(s) are good. I don’t think I’d change anything. It’s a good interview topic and the interviewee is a good communicator and it allows for a pleasurable audio piece to listen to.

Here are some suggestions for further improvement:

Rather than starting out with “according to the AGC….” I would start out with language that immediately catches the listener’s attention. Maybe something like:
“You can hear the sounds of construction everywhere in the Puget Sound region”.

or
“Construction in our region is booming, and safety is of paramount concern….”

The transition to the interview seems abrupt b/c it just starts with “Steve Brenner”. Maybe record yourself saying: “welcome to the interview, please introduce yourself and your profession”.

I’d definitely add a conclusion. I’d suggest something similar to your opening in terms of speaking to the goal of working towards a completely safe worksite and work practices, as well as the importance of safety to the employees and their families. Maybe again mention how important safety is to the company here, and fade out perhaps with some simple music or bring back the construction sounds. Maybe also add a sign off-aka “this is Bill Michie reporting on safety in the workplace in Seattle’s booming construction scene”

Overall, great work!

Matt

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1. Bill Michie
  
  July 6, 2016 at 5:41 am
  
  Good suggestions, Matt. I appreciate that you picked up on my attempt to be hopeful in preventing injuries. I like your approach for reworking the introduction. It sounds more like a story instead of a book report – I’m going to work on that. I’m absolutely going to work on a conclusion and I like your idea of tying it back to my company’s safety initiatives.
  
  Thanks for the ideas!
  
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Laurel Brishel Prichard

July 6, 2016 at 4:22 am

Hey Bill,
I like the intro with the construction sounds, I think this helps set the tone for the piece. Listening to your piece you sound very clear and the content is very interesting. Having so many facts included is a hard thing to accomplish but you have done a great job including very vital facts. When you enter into the Safety Director content he repeats his title twice, maybe edit this out so there is only one mention of his title. I think you did a great job editing in his answers, they are at a good sound level and he speaks very clearly, which is always an issue with people answering questions. The other thing I would suggest is possibly adding in a smoother exit. I’m not sure if this would be cutting your intro in shorter or adding in a little snippet like, Thanks for listening and tune in soon for more follow up safety information. Might help add a level of closure to the audio piece. Great job!
Thanks!

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1. Bill Michie
  
  July 6, 2016 at 5:44 am
  
  Thanks, Laurel! Removing the extra Safety Director introduction will give me a little bit more space to squeeze in my conclusion.
  
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Bill Michie

July 6, 2016 at 5:28 am

I’m really starting to enjoy the feedback portion of our projects. This week my classmates provided me with more helpful suggestions to take my work to the next level. While submitting my draft I requested feedback specifically about my introduction, use of sound effects and lack of conclusion. I am thankful each of these were addressed and more.

Classmate feedback tended to agree my introduction sounds were a bit too long, but the use of construction sound effects was a good choice. For my final version I am going to cut this down a bit so I have more time for narrative.

Nola and Matt both provided great advice for reworking my narrative introduction. Both pointed out that I may not being making the connection to my audience that I desired. Nola suggested a including statistics on injuries and Matt provided tips for reworking my anecdotes to capture the listener’s attention. I am definitely going to rewrite and rework my introduction, both of these suggestions will help make my story more intriguing.

I appreciated Robert’s feedback about the sound quality during my interview. He’s absolutely right that there is a difference. For the final version I will have to spend a few more hours fine tuning this in Audition.

In regards to adding a conclusion, the feedback was unanimous. Yes, add a conclusion! I’m going to have to spend some time figuring that one out, while also cutting my content a bit to make room.

Thanks for your help, everyone!

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